Ei-iE

Future of work in education

The future of education depends on strengthening the teaching profession, enhancing its status, and improving conditions to ensure that every student has a qualified teacher. The expertise of teachers must be recognised. Teachers must be the ones leading the development and future of education.

Technology and artificial intelligence are currently changing education as we know it. COVID-19 has accelerated the pace of change, forcing classrooms to move online for extended periods of time. While technology has the potential to support teaching and learning, it also poses major challenges, such as the critical digital divide and increased inequity, the commercialisation of education, issues of data privacy and cyberbullying, to name just a few.

Simply introducing education technology does not lead to enhanced learning. The teaching profession has a critical role to play in evaluating and deciding on the appropriate technology for teaching and learning.

As proven by the COVID-19 crisis, relationships between teachers and students and school communities are critical to student development and cannot be replaced by screens. We advocate for a human and student-centred approach to the use of technology and artificial intelligence in education.

Our work in this area

  1. News 20 October 2020

    Global survey assesses status of teachers in era of COVID-19 pandemic

    Education International is relaunching its global survey on the Status of Teachers. The organisation’s largest survey of its 400 affiliated unions aims to better understand the status of teachers around the globe and build a strong basis for advocacy.

    Global survey assesses status of teachers in era of COVID-19 pandemic
  2. News 15 October 2020

    Iraq: Education union demands improvements in the education sector

    On the occasion of World Teachers’ Day, 5 October, the Kurdistan Teachers’ Union (KTU) called on the government to improve educators’ working and living conditions and the quality of education at all levels.

    Iraq: Education union demands improvements in the education sector
  6. News 23 July 2020

    Protecting the human rights of teachers and students and education in the digital age

    In an interview with EI, Christina Colclough, future of work expert, discussed teacher adaptation to digitalisation, life-long learning, the digital divide, the relationship between virtual and physical learning, data, and related issues. She stressed that the use and abuse of data was a danger to worker and human rights.

    Protecting the human rights of teachers and students and education in the digital age
  7. Worlds of Education 10 July 2020

    "The edtech pandemic shock", by Ben Williamson & Anna Hogan.

    Ben Williamson

    The Covid-19 pandemic was the context for two major disruptions in education. The first was the disruption to schooling for millions of students worldwide, and a rapid shift to remote learning online. The second, closely related disruption was the entry of the commercial education technology sector into public education at...

    "The edtech pandemic shock", by Ben Williamson & Anna Hogan.
  8. News 10 July 2020

    Edtech Pandemic Shock: New EI research launched on COVID-19 education commercialisation

    Education International has launched groundbreaking new research which maps the extent of private actors’ influence in education since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The research has been commissioned as part of Education International's Global Response to the Commercialisation and Privatisation of Education.

    Edtech Pandemic Shock: New EI research launched on COVID-19 education commercialisation
  9. Publications

    A Review of Technology in Teaching and Learning

    Alison Egan
    30 June 2020

    The objective of this review is to outline current thinking on the role of technology in education. This paper was written before the global Covid -19 pandemic that forced an “online pivot” in educational settings. The “wicked problem” of technology integration in education is now a significant concern for many...

    A Review of Technology in Teaching and Learning
    1. Download
  10. Worlds of Education 22 June 2020

    "Repairing the infrastructure of public education amidst the breakdown", by Sam Sellar

    Sam Sellar

    While trying to make sense of the crisis caused by COVID-19, two well-worn lines keep coming to mind. The first is attributed to Lenin, who apparently claimed, when describing the Russian Revolution, that ‘there are decades when nothing happens; and there are weeks when decades happens’.

    "Repairing the infrastructure of public education amidst the breakdown", by Sam Sellar
  11. Worlds of Education 12 June 2020

    “Preparing for a post-COVID-19 world and working to prevent student dropout: good union practices in the fight against child labour”, by Samuel Grumiau and Pedi Anawi.

    Pedi Anawi, Samuel Grumiau

    According to the ILO, there are over 150 million child labourers worldwide. Conscious of this challenge and keen to promote the right to a quality education for all, EI members in thirteen countries have initiated programmes to eradicate child labour with the support of EI and its partners. While there...

    “Preparing for a post-COVID-19 world and working to prevent student dropout: good union practices in the fight against child labour”, by Samuel Grumiau and Pedi Anawi.
  12. Worlds of Education 12 June 2020

    “Getting children back to school after the COVID-19 closures: how EI's child labour projects empowered teachers and their unions”, by Nora Wintour.

    Nora Wintour

    In the research study, conducted in 2018 and 2019 “EI/AOb Child Labour Projects: Transnational best practices and union impacts”, I examined how professional training programmes have enhanced teachers capacity to attract and retain children in school through participatory education techniques and how as a result of the child labour projects,...

    “Getting children back to school after the COVID-19 closures: how EI's child labour projects empowered teachers and their unions”, by Nora Wintour.
  13. News 4 June 2020

    International Summit on the Teaching Profession 2020: Teachers recognised as the heroes of the Covid-19 crisis in education

    The 10th edition of the International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) took place on 2 June 2020, in a webinar format. Co-hosted by Education International and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the ISTP brought together education ministers and education unions for a discussion on the impact...

    International Summit on the Teaching Profession 2020: Teachers recognised as the heroes of the Covid-19 crisis in education
  14. Worlds of Education 22 November 2019

    #CRC30 “Ending corporal punishment in schools – a pathway to protecting the right to education”, by Baguma Filbert Bates.

    Baguma Filbert Bates

    In Uganda, corporal punishment was declared unlawful in schools in March 2016 when the Children’s Act was amended and indeed since 2006, corporal punishment had been discouraged by Ministerial Guidelines. However, it remains a big challenge because in many schools, particularly in the remoter rural areas, it is a deeply...

    #CRC30 “Ending corporal punishment in schools – a pathway to protecting the right to education”, by Baguma Filbert Bates.
  15. Worlds of Education 24 September 2019

    “Governments, Fulfil Your Promises: Make Climate Change Education Universal Now!”, by David Edwards.

    David Edwards

    It was a historic moment when in 2015 UN member states adopted a progressive agenda for a better world, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Central to the SDGs was the important (albeit overdue) recognition that social and economic development cannot be pursued without taking into account their environmental impact. That...

    “Governments, Fulfil Your Promises: Make Climate Change Education Universal Now!”, by David Edwards.
  18. News 16 September 2019

    New study shows how education policies impact students, teachers and principals

    A new study published today by the OECD, the Education Policy Outlook: Working Together to Help Students Achieve their Potential, reports on the progress of over 200 school improvement policies implemented over the last 10 years.

    New study shows how education policies impact students, teachers and principals